IB mayor livid over failure to activate sewage pump at border

IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. -- Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina worked the phones and sent emails all Tuesday morning hoping to keep a raw sewage pump station at the U.S.-Mexico border from shutting down.

But he says his requests were ignored and the pump was shut down by officials in Tijuana.

"Folks in Mexico can dump as much sewage as they want anytime they want and literally nothing happens," Dedina said.

Dedina was hopeful the sewage would not make its way into the ocean, but according to San Diego County's Department of Environmental Health, it has, forcing the closure of the Tijuana Slough and the coastline from south of Imperial Beach to the border.

Dedina would like to see more cooperation between Mexico and the U.S. to keep this from constantly happening.

"Every agency that works along the border, every elected official besides me needs to get on this on both sides of the border, protecting public health, making sure our beaches are clean and pristine," Dedina said.